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User blog:I am that guy/Book input
So, most of my recent inactivity is due to my work schedule, and I apologize for that, but some of it is because I'm brainstorming for a book idea I've had floating around in my head for the past two weeks. I've got a rough outline figured out, and would like you guys, my friends, to let me know how it sounds: In the Company of God * Rough buildup: Space, from Mercury to the Asteroid Belt, is not space, but Atmosphere. It's a continuous bubble of Earth-like, breathable atmosphere called the Aether. Now, each planet traps its own sub-atmosphere they shield the planetary surfaces from the Aetherian Currents (explained below) due to them being denser than the Aether surrounding them. It follows interplanetary exploration, politics, technological developments, and Aether-based ship-to-ship combat, the book begins in 1864. * Aetherian Currents: everyone remembers convection from science class, right? That's what the Aetherian Currents are. The Aetherian Currents are, put simply, the largest moving bodies of air known to man. Air particles near the inner extent on the Aether are heated by the sun and expand, like in the normal world, and "rise" (relative to the sun). When the air finally reaches the (still unknown) outer extent of the Aether, it's cooled and contracts. The cool air then "sinks" (again, relative to the sun) and heads back inward. The Aetherian Currents become the means to which interplanetary travel is made possible. * Sky Steamer technology: **Basics: in 1819, the S.S. Savannah made the first trans-atlantic voyage. Soon after, (insert tbd inventors name here) invented the first flight capable ship, "Sky Steamers" as they'll be called, by attaching air-bladders, filled with a lighter-than-air gas. Initial, "Gen 1" steamers, had their air-bladders above the ship, with the hull suspended like a hot air ballon. However, as the exposed air-bladders became easy targets, they were moved inside the hull, protected by the outer hull and its armor. **Magnetic boots: while the concept of using iron as armor plating is a new one, iron has been used for a very different purpose prior: makeshift gravity. As interplanetary transit can take months, the long-term effects of a Zero-G environment were a main concern. In addition, crews would be awkward in trying to move about whilst floating, causing unacceptable inefficiency. The British Empire first conceived the idea of using a combination of iron flooring, and magnetic boots. The first experiments in the 1830s produced clumsy results, and other space-faring nations experimented as well, seeing the obvious benefit. The United States of America would be the first to perfect the combination of iron floors and carefully weighed magnetic boots. Other nations soon adapted, and the magnetic boots became standard issue in Earths Aether navies. However, while the boots and flooring simulated gravity for the lower body, and keeping the leg muscles functioning, they did not do the same for the upper body. Nevertheless, sailors often look forward to the end of their shift, and retire to their cabins, slip out of the boots, and relax in the weightlessness. **Armament: Like their water-bound companions (yes, ocean navies are still a thing), most warships have their firepower focused in broadsides. At the beginning of the book, the SMS Danzig is relegated to smooth bore, muzzle loading cannons, with the modern rifled, breach loading guns going to the prioritized ships-of-the-line. Each gun is manned by a crew of two, one loads the powder bag, then the second inserts the cannon ball/shell, then the first rams them down to the back of the barrel (provided its a muzzle loading gun) whilst the second inserts the spark wires. The spark wires are modified telegraph wires run to the breach of each gun on the ship, each gun on one side of one deck converge, then the wires from all the decks on one side converge themselves and run to the bridge. On the main bridge, there are three separate gunners: Port Broadside, Starboard Broadside, Bow Cannons. Each have their own dedicated wiring, with redundants should one be severed, running to either gun group. Paddles, not unlike those you'd see sending dashes and dots through a telegram, fire either the guns, or the explosive, rocket-propelled torpedoes, which operate under a similar system of wiring. The bridge gunners are made aware of each decks' readiness by the deck officer on each deck pressing a button that extends a knob at the corresponding bridge station, pressing said knob will fire that individual deck, as opposed to the paddle, which fires all decks on one side simultaneously, while also dragging down the readiness knobs. **Propulsion: Propulsion comes from (usually) four steam engines linked to an external propeller (think Zeppelin), called a screw, via a drive shaft like that you'd find on a steam locomotive. **Flight Controls: At the bow are planes the control the ships vertical motion. I'll have a sketch of the books main ship, the SMS Danzig, hopefully sometime soon. *Characters: various points of view are given, but these are some of the more important. **(Lieutenant Commander) Johan Volkard: the principal character, he is a bread bakers son turned naval officer in the Prussian Navy (Königliche Marine). Never quite the honor roll student, he did show a gift for three-dimensional thinking. Something that proves invaluable in a world where admirals want to use two-dimensional water navy tactics in a 3-D field of battle. The SMS Danzig is his first independent command. **(Lieutenant) Fredrick Augustus von Wettin, Prince of Saxony: Nephew to the King of Saxony, he joined the Prussian Navy in the hopes of escaping the life of a noble. But despite his attempts, his family names gets him unwanted, unearned appreciation. That changes when he becomes first officer to Johan Volkard, who makes clear his "rank, not nobility" policy and makes sure to exclude the noble "von", much to Fredricks secretive thanks. **Adelheid Haus: a woman who took the disguise of a man to join the navy, she serves as a starboard broadside gunner on the SMS Danzig. Her secret, and her attempts to conceal it, occupy much of her life, as faces a criminal trial if caught. **'More may be added as I brainstorm more' *Politics: the new-colonialism era isn't the Scramble for Africa, but the scramble for Luna and Mars. As colonial holdings are established, and claims begin to over lap, hostilities begin to boil. The book begins in the midst of a war between Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, the name given to the possessions of to House of Habsburg: the Austrian and Spanish Empires, and the Kingdom of Two Sicilies (Spain and Two Sicilies were given back to the Habsburgs following the Napoleonic Wars). Against this, our band of intrepid adventurers find themselves in a twenty year old frigate in a quickly modernizing world. *Interplanetary travel: Sky Steamers utilize the Aetherian Currents to travel between Earth, Luna, Mars, and later Venus. But timing plays a crucial role as one cannot simply fly for Mars when the two are on opposite sides of the sun. Instead, interplanetary travel takes place during a two-three month period know as Orbital Overtake. This is when the Earth closes in on Mars due to its smaller orbit. Ships bound for Earth leave at the beginning of the Orbital Overtake period in order to be at Earths orbit when the planet catches up. Ships leaving for Mars wait until the end on the Orbital overtake period, after Earth has already passed Mars, and arrive at Martian orbit when the planet catches up to the ships. Vessels heading outbound ride the warm Aetherian Currents heading deeper into the solar system, the inbound ships use the cold currents coming from the Aethers outer limits. Needless to say, the outbound trip is more enjoyable. *Aether based combat: three dimensional combat is an almost-entirely alien concept to to the worlds admiralties, instead insisting on using "tried and true" two dimensional naval tactics for ocean fleets. These include the line-of-battle, where behemoth vessels approach each other to do battle in a single row. This has problems when the opposing fleet is on a different plane. A minority have called for a restructuring the fleet into a wall-of-battle, having multiple battle lines stacked above each other, bringing more firepower onto the enemy quicker, and less reliant on the opponent being on the same plane in space as them. Also, while combat in open space is not unheard of, it is mostly confined to commerce raiding, and fleet actions typically take place in planetary orbit. *Comparisons to our world: in this world, Prussia is engaged in wars of german unification, under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck, much like our world. Also like our world, only two years prior, in 1862, a rebelling nation equipped a captured Sky Steamer frigate, the USS Merrimac, into the first iron-hulled warship, the CSS Virginia, and goes on to destroy an American battle squadron at the Battle of Hampton Crater near the moons surface. You guys let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions please let me know. Category:Blog posts